I know that it has been said before, but traveling with children is more of a trip than a vacation. A short journey requires days if not weeks of preparation. Mostly I enjoy it, but sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it.
So many variables are in play. Travel time in the car involves sitting in one place and often screens, something which isn’t great for my child with sensory integration issues. Being away from home involves always bringing our own food options for the picky child with Celiac disease. (Going through the drive through on route is virtually a thing of the past). I won’t even get into having a mostly non-pottytrained toddler who still does better when he gets his naps.
But vacations or trips, whichever they are, afford me the luxury of a change of location and schedule. Sometimes the children do well with the change, other times they don’t but I can decide how I react. My favorite way to vacation is in a more relaxed manner. Sure, this means I do a bunch of unpacking and repacking each night once the children are in bed. But in the morning we are able to be more unhurried.
I don't excel at unhurried. But I know it's something I desperately need. Click To TweetIf we leave the house later than expected, that’s Ok. If we hit traffic or stop more often than expected, I need to remind myself that we are in no hurry. My children want an adventure but they also need two sane parents.
Some kind of tentative schedule is helpful to keep that all important sanity, but sticking too tightly to a timeline creates unnecessary stress.
The point of taking a vacation at all, at least to me, is to spend more time together. To find little moments to connect with each of the members of my family because daily life has been set to the side, if only for a little while. Click To TweetMy daughter and I float side by side in inflatable tubes in the pool and I am able to chat with her and tell her how much she is loved. I see my previous timid son spend every free moment in the water and beg to never leave. I hold my almost three year old up to see the elephants at the zoo and watch his eyes grow wide with wonder. I smile to myself when my knowledge hungry little homeschoolers ask intelligent questions of the zoo staff and actually remember things we learned doing the school year.
Those moments will make a vacation, if I don’t let my need to control and schedule break it.
Sometimes the adventure is in rediscovering each other as much as it is in visiting new places. Click To Tweet
Great thoughts here, Bethany; even though I don’t have kids, I can appreciate the wisdom.
Travelling with dogs can be fun, too. I once drove a big box lorry cross-country with a Coonhound and two Pits. They were very laid-back about the whole thing…but one stop for gas I remember, they were all asleep as I pulled into the petrol station. First the Coonhound popped his head up, and a lady in the car in front looked back and smiled. And then the other two got up as well, and her smile grew broader, seeing a row of one human and three dogs through the windscreen.
so, we so need to remember that eh? That we don’t have to work to a schedule, we can take those moments and just relax with our youngsters
Exactly! Treasure those moments!
I treasure the memories of vacations with our kiddos! All of the “work” was well-worth the time away with just the five of us!
Vacations got a lot more fun when I realized that I didn’t need to stick to a tight schedule and that the purpose was to build memories :).
For me the key seems to be low expectations and trying to keep everyone as fed and rested as possible. This most recent trip was one of our most relaxing. We had a plan, but we kept it flexible and made sure there was some laid back unscheduled time toward the end of the trip so we didn’t burn out. It seemed to help.